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Title: "My life is changed but the trust ain't there to trust somebody else" : experiences of recovery from intimate partner abuse of women of Mexican heritage in a mid-size city in Michigan
Creator: Palma-Ramirez, Evangelina
Date: 2020
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: This exploratory qualitative study aimed to gain an understanding of the experiences of recovery from intimate partner abuse (IPA) of 17 women of Mexican heritage in a mid-size urban city in Michigan. IPA was defined as any type of physical, sexual, stalking, psychological harm or coercive control by a former intimate partner or spouse. Two aspects were explored: experiences of abuse and experiences of recovery from abuse. The study used a feminist theory and intersectionality perspective as...
Show moreThis exploratory qualitative study aimed to gain an understanding of the experiences of recovery from intimate partner abuse (IPA) of 17 women of Mexican heritage in a mid-size urban city in Michigan. IPA was defined as any type of physical, sexual, stalking, psychological harm or coercive control by a former intimate partner or spouse. Two aspects were explored: experiences of abuse and experiences of recovery from abuse. The study used a feminist theory and intersectionality perspective as a guiding framework to understand the experiences of women considering their contextual situation. Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire and analyzed using a constructivist grounded theory by Charmaz. The findings revealed that women understand their experiences of abuse as being connected to their early socialization about gender roles, history of child abuse, lack of sexual education, and the influence of the environment. Also, the participants revealed they experienced overlapping types of abuse: psychological, coercion, economic, physical, sexual, and stalking. Despite the negative impact of the abuse on participants' physical and mental health, findings showed that women were able to recover from the abuse and to move on with their lives. Data suggested that the recovery was a gradual ongoing process of physical and psychological healing. Participants identified empowering experiences that helped them in their recovery from IPA. Such empowering experiences included life-changing religious realizations, receiving services in Spanish, acquiring more education, receiving counseling services, and getting a job. Receiving social support from family and friends and having access to resources were identified as factors that aided in the recovery from IPA. However, some participants experienced limited access to such resources due to economic constraints, cultural beliefs about gender roles, and the impact of immigration policies.Lastly, findings revealed that experiences of recovery from IPA vary based on whether women decided to leave their partners or to remain with them. Implications for culturally sensitive interventions for Latinas of Mexican heritage are discussed as well as implications for future research on issues of recovery for this specific Latino subgroup.
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Title: The role of affect in binge eating phenotypes : an examination of individual differences in emotion experience and interactions with ovarian hormones
Creator: Mikhail, Megan Elizabeth
Date: 2020
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Ovarian hormones significantly influence dysregulated eating in females. However, most women do not develop appreciable disordered eating, suggesting that ovarian hormones may not affect all women equally. In the first study of this thesis, I examined whether individual differences in trait negative affect (NA) moderate ovarian hormone-dysregulated eating associations in 446 women who provided saliva samples for hormone measurements and ratings of NA and emotional eating daily for 45...
Show moreOvarian hormones significantly influence dysregulated eating in females. However, most women do not develop appreciable disordered eating, suggesting that ovarian hormones may not affect all women equally. In the first study of this thesis, I examined whether individual differences in trait negative affect (NA) moderate ovarian hormone-dysregulated eating associations in 446 women who provided saliva samples for hormone measurements and ratings of NA and emotional eating daily for 45 consecutive days. Women were at greatest risk for emotional eating when they had high trait NA and experienced a hormonal milieu characterized by low estradiol or high progesterone. While effects were significant in all women, the combination of high trait NA and high progesterone was particularly risky for women with a history of clinically significant binge eating episodes. These findings provide initial evidence that affective and hormonal risk interact to promote dysregulated eating, and that effects may be amplified in women with clinically significant binge eating.Low emotion differentiation (the tendency to experience vague affective states rather than discrete emotions) is associated with psychopathology marked by emotion regulation deficits and impulsive/maladaptive behavior. However, research examining associations between emotion differentiation and dysregulated eating is still nascent. In the second study, I therefore examined associations between several measures of emotion differentiation and binge eating phenotypes across a spectrum of severity.
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Title: Re-calibration of rigid pavement performance models and development of traffic inputs for Pavement-ME design in Michigan
Creator: Musunuru, Gopi Krishna
Date: 2019
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: The mechanistic-empirical pavement design guide (AASHTOWARE Pavement-ME) incorporates mechanistic models to estimate stresses, strains, and deformations in pavement layers using site-specific climatic, material, and traffic characteristics. These structural responses are used to predict pavement performance using empirical models (i.e., transfer functions). The transfer functions need to be calibrated to improve the accuracy of the performance predictions, reflecting the unique field...
Show moreThe mechanistic-empirical pavement design guide (AASHTOWARE Pavement-ME) incorporates mechanistic models to estimate stresses, strains, and deformations in pavement layers using site-specific climatic, material, and traffic characteristics. These structural responses are used to predict pavement performance using empirical models (i.e., transfer functions). The transfer functions need to be calibrated to improve the accuracy of the performance predictions, reflecting the unique field conditions and design practices. The existing local calibrations of the performance models were performed by using version 2.0 of the Pavement-ME software. However, AASHTO has released versions 2.2 and 2.3 of the software since the completion of the last study. In the revised versions of the software, several bugs were fixed.Consequently, some performance models were modified in the newer software versions. As a result, the concrete pavement IRI predictions and the resulting PCC slab thicknesses have been impacted. The performance predictions varied significantly from the observed structural and function distresses, and hence, the performance models were recalibrated to enhance the confidence in pavement designs. Linear and nonlinear mixed-effects models were used for calibration to account for the non-independence among the data measured on the same sections over time. Also, climate data, material properties, and design parameters were used to develop a model for predicting permanent curl for each location to address some limitations of the Pavement-ME. This model can be used at the design stage to estimate permanent curl for a given location in Michigan.Pavement-ME also requires specific types of traffic data to design new or rehabilitated pavement structures. The traffic inputs include monthly adjustment factors (MAF), hourly distribution factors (HDF), vehicle class distributions (VCD), axle groups per vehicle (AGPV), and axle load distributions for different axle configurations. During the last seven years, new traffic data were collected, which reflect the recent economic growth, additional, and downgraded WIM sites. Hence it was appropriate to re-evaluate the current traffic inputs and incorporate any changes. Weight and classification data were obtained from 41 Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) sites located throughout the State of Michigan to develop Level 1 (site-specific) traffic inputs. Cluster analyses were conducted to group sites for the development of Level 2A inputs. Classification models such as decision trees, random forests, and Naive Bayes classifier were developed to assign a new site to these clusters; however, this proved difficult. An alternative simplified method to develop Level 2B inputs by grouping sites with similar attributes was also adopted. The optimal set of attributes for developing these Level 2B inputs were identified by using an algorithm developed in this study. The effects of the developed hierarchical traffic inputs on the predicted performance of rigid and flexible pavements were investigated using the Pavement-ME. Based on the statistical and practical significance of the life differences, appropriate levels were established for each traffic input. The methodology for developing traffic inputs is intuitive and practical for future updates. Also, there is a need to identify the change in traffic patterns to update the traffic inputs so that the pavement sections would not be overdesigned or under-designed. Models were developed where the short-term counts from the PTR sites can be used as inputs to check if the new traffic patterns cause any substantial differences in design life predictions.
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Title: Effects of a multi-strain Bacillus subtilis-based direct-fed microbial on weanling pig growth performance, nutrient digestibility, immunity markers, intestinal morphology, and microbial communities
Creator: Lewton, Jaron R.
Date: 2020
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effects of a multi-strain Bacillus subtilis-based direct-fed microbial (DFM) on weanling pig growth performance, nutrient digestibility, immunity markers, intestinal morphology, and microbial communities. A study was conducted to test the hypothesis that DFM supplemented pigs would have greater nutrient digestibility and improvements in specific indicators of health status. Eighty pigs, of equal number of barrows and gilts (initial BW: 7.0 ...
Show moreThe objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effects of a multi-strain Bacillus subtilis-based direct-fed microbial (DFM) on weanling pig growth performance, nutrient digestibility, immunity markers, intestinal morphology, and microbial communities. A study was conducted to test the hypothesis that DFM supplemented pigs would have greater nutrient digestibility and improvements in specific indicators of health status. Eighty pigs, of equal number of barrows and gilts (initial BW: 7.0 ± 0.60 kg), weaned at 21 ± 1 days of age were randomly allotted to sixteen pens, with five pigs per pen. Two dietary treatments were implemented, a basal control (CON) and a control plus DFM (DFM). Both diets were corn, soybean meal, and distillers dried grains based and were formulated to meet or exceed all nutrient requirements and manufactured on site. Diets were fed for 42 days. Growth performance was recorded on a weekly basis. On d 21 and 42 of the experiment, one pig per pen was randomly selected and euthanized, with equal number of males and females represented. Blood samples were collected prior to euthanasia for assessment of plasma concentrations of immunoglobin A (IgA) and intestinal fatty acid binding protein. Segments of the gastrointestinal tract including duodenum, jejunum, ileum, ascending and distal colon were removed for analysis of nutrient digestibility, intestinal morphology, microbial communities, and concentrations of interleukin 6, interleukin 10 (IL-10), and tumor necrosis factor alpha. Overall growth performance did not differ between DFM and CON. Overall means ± SD were 0.51 ± 0.05 kg/d, 0.79 ± 0.05 kg/d and 0.66 ± 0.05 for ADG, ADFI, and G:F, respectively. Compared to pigs fed CON, overall digestibility of AA within the jejunum tended to be greater for tryptophan (P = 0.06), methionine (P = 0.10), and cysteine (P = 0.12) for pigs fed DFM. The pH of contents in ascending colon, a possible indicator of varied fiber digestion, did not differ. Apparent total tract nitrogen and energy digestibility did not differ between DFM and CON on d 21 or 42. Compared to CON, overall jejunal villus height was greater (P = 0.02) (422 vs. 385 ± 10 [mu]m, respectively) and ascending colon crypt depth tended to be greater (P = 0.10) on d 21 (373 vs. 337 ± 14 [mu]m, respectively). Compared to CON, DFM tended to increase IgA (P = 0.06) on d 21 (0.34 vs. 0.54 ± 0.07 mg/mL, respectively) and tended to increase IL-10 (P = 0.12) on d 42 (133 vs. 237 ± 49 pg/mL, respectively). Addition of a multi-strain Bacillus subtilis-based DFM appears to impact select amino acid digestibility within the jejunum. Improvements in digestibility may be related to the DFMs benefit on weanling pig health status, observed via differences in intestinal morphology and specific immunity markers.
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Title: Toward better management of spotted-wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii) in Michigan cherry orchards
Creator: Dietrich, Sarah R.
Date: 2020
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Spotted-wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii Matsumura (Diptera: Drosophilidae), is an invasive species that has impacts worldwide. Current monitoring methods and decision-making protocols are unreliable indicators of D. suzukii population and propensity to infest a crop. The aim of this research was to develop behavior-based tools that would lead to improved management of D. suzukii populations in Michigan cherry. The commercial Scentry® lure provided higher D. suzukii attractiveness than...
Show moreSpotted-wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii Matsumura (Diptera: Drosophilidae), is an invasive species that has impacts worldwide. Current monitoring methods and decision-making protocols are unreliable indicators of D. suzukii population and propensity to infest a crop. The aim of this research was to develop behavior-based tools that would lead to improved management of D. suzukii populations in Michigan cherry. The commercial Scentry® lure provided higher D. suzukii attractiveness than other commercially available lures. Sticky panels tested with a variety of colors and patterns showed that most D. suzukii are captured on a green panel or a light-colored panel with a dark contrasting sphere in the center, as well as panel traps with a large trap surface are. Studies aimed at understanding the relationships between fruit development and D. suzukii infestation revealed that over all the varieties of sweet and tart cherries tested, softer, riper fruit were more susceptible to infestation than unripe fruit. There were strong positive relationships between D. suzukii larval infestation and the change in color and the change in the amount of force required to puncture the skin of the cherry fruit. There also was a good relationship between Growing Degree Days (base 4°C) post bloom and larval infestation, with fruit at a low risk of infestation by D. suzukii prior to about 600 GDD's. This research provides information on creating a risk of infestation model that uses fruit ripeness stage based on Growing Degree Days, combined with effective monitoring tools, to provide options for improved decision-making in the management of D. suzukii.
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Title: A critical review of Michigan's spring waterfowl survey
Creator: Yost, Nathaniel Thomas
Date: 2020
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: To monitor the status of waterfowl populations, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) began surveying abundance of breeding ducks and geese in 1991 and developed goals for waterfowl population and habitat management tied to the spring waterfowl survey. The spring waterfowl survey required flying a series of fixed-width transects using fixed-wing aircraft to estimate statewide abundance of Canada geese (Branta canadensis), mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), mute swans (Cygnus olor),...
Show moreTo monitor the status of waterfowl populations, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) began surveying abundance of breeding ducks and geese in 1991 and developed goals for waterfowl population and habitat management tied to the spring waterfowl survey. The spring waterfowl survey required flying a series of fixed-width transects using fixed-wing aircraft to estimate statewide abundance of Canada geese (Branta canadensis), mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), mute swans (Cygnus olor), and sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) among others. To get consistent results, standard operating procedures (SOP) have been implemented and maintained across the years. Since observers did not see all birds from the fixed-wing aircraft, estimation of waterfowl abundance required surveying a portion of transects with helicopters to establish visibility correction factors (VCF). MDNR used the VCF to adjust fixed-wing estimates assuming observers saw all birds in transects flown with helicopters. To potentially improve precision and reduce costs, we developed alternate VCFs and aerial survey designs to understand how the accuracy and precision of the waterfowl population estimate changed from the existing SOP methodology. To meet MDNR standards, we considered alternate population estimates that produced a coefficient of variation (CV) of less than 20% to be acceptable and worth consideration. We found comparable population estimates and CVs from eleven alternate VCFs and three alternate aerial survey designs compared to the SOP.
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Title: Conditions facilitating the establishment of teacher trust and collaboration in post-Soviet versus U.S. school contexts
Creator: Hajiyeva, Samira
Date: 2019
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: This qualitative case study aimed to identify school principals' early leadership actions in building teacher trust and collaboration in post-Soviet Georgia (vertical organization) and U.S. (more egalitarian organization) school settings. The study was organized around the following research questions:1. How do school principals in post-Soviet Georgia and the U.S. develop teacher trust and collaboration? a. What leadership orientations and behaviors do they draw on? b.What challenges do they...
Show moreThis qualitative case study aimed to identify school principals' early leadership actions in building teacher trust and collaboration in post-Soviet Georgia (vertical organization) and U.S. (more egalitarian organization) school settings. The study was organized around the following research questions:1. How do school principals in post-Soviet Georgia and the U.S. develop teacher trust and collaboration? a. What leadership orientations and behaviors do they draw on? b.What challenges do they describe? c. What do they identify as the most important first steps in developing a collaborative school culture? What organizational conditions do they focus on? 2. How do Georgian and U.S. teachers describe teacher trust and collaboration in their school? What principal supports for trust and collaboration do they point out? 3. How do the accounts of Georgian and U.S. principals and teachers compare? 4. How do the accounts of Georgian and U.S. principals and teachers inform the development of teacher trust and collaboration in post-Soviet and other traditionally vertical school structures and cultures?The qualitative case study involved school principals, assistant principals and teachers in one K-12 capital city school in Tbilisi, Georgia, and two suburban schools in Michigan (one middle, one high school). Overall, seventeen participants in Georgia and twenty-one in Michigan schools were interviewed. Alongside interviews, the study examined documents and observed teacher meetings to better understand how teachers collaborate and what support they get from their peers and school leaders. The data suggest some fundamental leadership behaviors were common to leader efforts to initiate or extend teacher trust and collaboration in both school contexts. All three cases show that principals put great emphases on key transactional behaviors such as being present and responsive, listening, following through on concerns and agreements, building open and transparent relations, and offering individual consideration. Transformational behaviors: encouraging community, encouraging professional learning, voice, and leadership were also observed. Levels of trust and collaboration in the two environments differed. Teachers in Michigan schools were more familiar with the role of trust and collaboration and had higher expectations for these working conditions and supports. In Tbilisi's, a new school principal used these behaviors to overcome a history of toxic distrust and no traditions of collaboration to introduce trust and collaboration in small stages amongst groups of interested and willing teachers. Implications are drawn, most specifically for suggested steps in developing trust and collaboration in post-Soviet schools with histories and vertical education organizations similar to those of Georgia.
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Title: The estimation of neighborhood deprivation and preterm birth using longitudinally linked natality records
Creator: McArdle, Cristin Elizabeth
Date: 2019
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: This dissertation examined the association between neighborhood-level deprivation and perinatal outcomes. We studied the association between neighborhood poverty rate and pre-term birth (PTB; birth < 37 weeks) using longitudinal maternally-linked natality files of women and their infants in Michigan during the period 1990-2012. This study examined the embodiment of place and role of maternal characteristics during pregnancy in an effort to understand how selection into neighborhood may bias...
Show moreThis dissertation examined the association between neighborhood-level deprivation and perinatal outcomes. We studied the association between neighborhood poverty rate and pre-term birth (PTB; birth < 37 weeks) using longitudinal maternally-linked natality files of women and their infants in Michigan during the period 1990-2012. This study examined the embodiment of place and role of maternal characteristics during pregnancy in an effort to understand how selection into neighborhood may bias our understanding of neighborhood level associations. We looked at pregnancy outcomes across multiple pregnancies for the same woman (the mother) as she changed neighborhoods, and levels of poverty between pregnancies. In the first study examining residential mobility between pregnancies, we reported that approximately half of our sample changed residences between pregnancies. We further exploited our data structure to examine the association with prior PTB on subsequent mobility in two sub-samples restricted by parity: births 1 and 2, and births 2 and 3. We found the strongest risk factors for mobility were related to marital change (Divorce: births 1 to 2 OR: 2.5 95% CI: 2.4-2.6, births 2 to 3 OR: 3.3, 95% CI: 3.1-3.6); Married: births 1 to 2 OR: 2.8, 95% CI: 2.7-2.8, births 2 to 3 OR: 1.9, 95% CI:1.9-2.0) but not prior PTB (prior PTB: births 1 to 2 OR: 1.0, 95% CI:1.0-1.0, births 2 to 3 OR: 1.1 95%CI: 1.0-1.1). In the second study, we report that most women did not experience a change in the level of neighborhood poverty, based on quartile of neighborhood poverty. Women who remained in the poorest neighborhoods experienced the highest percentage of PTB across two births samples, Births 1 to 2 (11.4% PTB) and Births 2 to 3 (12.3% PTB). We found increased odds of PTB for births 1 to 2 with strong downward neighborhood trajectory (OR 1.2, 95% CI 1.0-1.3) but also increased odds of PTB among strong upward neighborhood poverty trajectory (OR 1.1, 95%CI: 1.1- 1.2) compared to the static trajectory group of lowest neighborhood poverty quartile. In Study 3, we then employed a novel approach, maternal fixed effects, utilizing data linked over time to compare birth outcomes for the same mother under different exposures which allows the mother to act as her own control, analogous to a case-crossover design, while comparing the contextual effects of neighborhood deprivation on PTB. We conducted logistic regression, random effects and fixed effects analysis to evaluate n=2,191,063 eligible births during our study period. Because a fixed effects model relies on variation over time within a mother to identify the estimated association of neighborhood deprivation and PTB, the primary analytic sample was restricted (n=280,277 births to 103,328 women).We found a null association between neighborhood poverty and PTB when using a maternal fixed effects analysis (OR: 1.0, 95% CI: 1.0-1.0). This was one of the first studies to profile the maternal neighborhood mobility patterns over a long period of time, between successive pregnancies and evaluated by neighborhood poverty rate.
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Title: The effects of nature-based preschool on child development
Creator: Pikus, Arianna E.
Date: 2019
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Nature-based preschools are on the rise in the United States. Currently, they can be found in over 43 states in the United States and more nature-based education facilities are being added every year (Merrick, 2016; North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), 2017). While there has been an increase in this type of early childhood program, it has yet to be determined if these programs are preparing children to the same degree as a more traditional preschool would. This...
Show moreNature-based preschools are on the rise in the United States. Currently, they can be found in over 43 states in the United States and more nature-based education facilities are being added every year (Merrick, 2016; North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), 2017). While there has been an increase in this type of early childhood program, it has yet to be determined if these programs are preparing children to the same degree as a more traditional preschool would. This study takes a mixed-methods approach to determine if children who attend a nature-based preschool are developing the skills needed to be successful in kindergarten, at a rate similar to children in traditional, high-quality preschool settings. While types of activities varied by preschool location, children at both locations developed early literacy, reasoning and some aspects of executive function at similar rates. Other aspects of executive function, including performance on the HTKS task (McClelland et al., 2014), were associated with greater growth for children in the traditional preschool classrooms.
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Title: Integrated pest management strategies for control of potato early die in Michigan potato systems
Creator: Cole, Emilie
Date: 2019
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Root lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus penetrans) in conjunction with the fungal pathogen Verticillium dahliae create the disease complex, potato early die, which can drastically reduce potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) yields. In Michigan, this disease complex is often managed using broad-spectrum soil fumigants such as methyl bromide, metam sodium and 1,3- dichloropropene, which can be harmful to applicators as well as soil and environmental health. Since the phase-out of methyl bromide in 2005,...
Show moreRoot lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus penetrans) in conjunction with the fungal pathogen Verticillium dahliae create the disease complex, potato early die, which can drastically reduce potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) yields. In Michigan, this disease complex is often managed using broad-spectrum soil fumigants such as methyl bromide, metam sodium and 1,3- dichloropropene, which can be harmful to applicators as well as soil and environmental health. Since the phase-out of methyl bromide in 2005, alternative control tactics to soil fumigants have become increasingly important to potato growers. In this thesis I investigated the use of (1) manures and manure-based composts and (2) non-fumigant nematicides and fungal-based biocontrols and their efficacy in reducing potato early die incidence. In laboratory trials, poultry manure and a blend of poultry and dairy manure compost (Layer Ash Blend) provided significant control of root lesion nematodes with 0% survivorship at rates of 5% (vol/vol) or higher. In field trials, I did not observe significant (P < 0.05) reductions in nematode populations regardless of treatment but did see a reduction in germinating V. dahliae microsclerotia in plots treated with poultry manure. Of the nematicides tested, Salibro treatments significantly reduced root lesion nematode and V. dahliae populations. From this research, it is clear that non-fumigant alternatives are possible for Michigan potato growers.
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Title: Blow fly (Diptera : Calliphoridae) community structure at a new northern latitude forensic research facility and during aquatic decomposition
Creator: Wydra, Breanna R.
Date: 2019
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) are necrophagous insects which are attracted to decomposing remains. The presence and life stage of their larvae are an important factors in the estimation of the postmortem interval (PMI) during death investigations. The purpose of this study was to survey the blow fly communities present under two separate circumstances: first, in the pre- and early-operation stages of a new outdoor forensic research facility in Northern Michigan (FROST); and second, in...
Show moreBlow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) are necrophagous insects which are attracted to decomposing remains. The presence and life stage of their larvae are an important factors in the estimation of the postmortem interval (PMI) during death investigations. The purpose of this study was to survey the blow fly communities present under two separate circumstances: first, in the pre- and early-operation stages of a new outdoor forensic research facility in Northern Michigan (FROST); and second, in the context of large vertebrate (Sus scrofa) decomposition in a freshwater aquatic system in Mid-Michigan. Eight blow fly species were collected at the Forensic Research Outdoor Station (FROST) from May-September with Phormia regina, Lucilia illustris, and Cochliomyia macellaria composing a cumulative 94.2% of the total collections. Month was a significant factor in the mean relative abundance of these major species. Two blow fly species were collected over the course of approximately one month during aquatic vertebrate decomposition with Phormia regina composing 90.5% of the collections. Time was not a significant factor in the mean relative abundance of the species collected, but larval length changes over this period suggested multiple oviposition events. The findings in these two studies provide new and important information which can be utilized by forensic entomologists in future research as well as by forensic science professionals during death investigations and related casework.
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Title: Entrepreneurial propensity : the constraining and enabling factors of institutional environments on women faculty in engineering
Creator: Pierre, Lisa-Marie
Date: 2019
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Research on women entrepreneurs over the last 40 years has centered on comparative studies between men and women related to sociodemographic, perceptual, and contextual factors. An emerging area for research is studying contextual factors such as corporations, households, family businesses, and universities. Using an institutional theory framing, this study explored the constraining and enabling factors institutions have on the entrepreneurial propensity of women faculty at Michigan State...
Show moreResearch on women entrepreneurs over the last 40 years has centered on comparative studies between men and women related to sociodemographic, perceptual, and contextual factors. An emerging area for research is studying contextual factors such as corporations, households, family businesses, and universities. Using an institutional theory framing, this study explored the constraining and enabling factors institutions have on the entrepreneurial propensity of women faculty at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan. Given the gaps in the women's entrepreneurship knowledge base, the following research question was asked: how do university policy, support measures, and reward systems constrain or enable the entrepreneurial activity of white women faculty in engineering? A qualitative case study approach was used to collect and analyze the data. Interviews were the primary data source and documents were the secondary data source. Pattern matching was used to analyze the data. Findings show that university promotion methods and the number of faculty job responsibilities were constraining factors. The factor that was enabling to white women engineering faculty at both universities, was the ability to act as a change agent who shapes new institutional environments.
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Title: Investigating the relationship between uv-b radiation exposure and racial disparities in preeclampsia : a medical geography study
Creator: Kutch, Libbey C.
Date: 2019
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Preeclampsia is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Research had demonstrated that adequate levels of vitamin D can help to circumvent the risk of preeclampsia. Vitamin D plays a role in cardiovascular health and in maternal health, and cutaneous exposure to ultra-violet (UV)-B radiation is critical to maintaining healthy vitamin D levels. The majority of vitamin D in humans is produced when the skin is exposed to ultraviolet radiation. UV-B varies...
Show morePreeclampsia is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Research had demonstrated that adequate levels of vitamin D can help to circumvent the risk of preeclampsia. Vitamin D plays a role in cardiovascular health and in maternal health, and cutaneous exposure to ultra-violet (UV)-B radiation is critical to maintaining healthy vitamin D levels. The majority of vitamin D in humans is produced when the skin is exposed to ultraviolet radiation. UV-B varies geographically; therefore geography influences the availability of vitamin D and the potential risk for preeclampsia. However, research on the geographic relationship between UV-B and pregnancy induced hypertensive disorders, including preeclampsia has been relatively neglected. This research investigates the relationship between maternal UV-B exposure and preeclampsia for mothers giving birth in Michigan from 2008 to 2015 during 3 time periods, 1-pre-conception, 2-early pregnancy, and 3-late pregnancy. A medical geographic and human ecological framework conceptualizes the environmental, biological and behavioral factors influencing the UV-B and preeclampsia relationship. UV-B is estimated using the Erythemal Daily Dose calculated form OMI remote sensing data. Preeclampsia is measured using Michigan's Vital Statistics Birth Data 2008-2015. Multilevel models were estimated to study these relationships. This study found that slight increases in UV-B exposure prior to conception and later in pregnancy could reduce the odds of preeclampsia for white but not black mothers. Other important risk factors for preeclampsia were increasing BMI, chronic and gestational diabetes and living in urban areas. Receiving Medicaid was protective for preeclampsia for white mothers but not black mothers. Enrollment in WIC was highly protective for all mothers. This medical geography research demonstrates the importance of utilizing remote sensing to begin to understand UV-B exposure on an important pregnancy outcome from a population perspective. Future research should also focus on reevaluating the measurement of the Erythemal Daily Dose to reflect people with high melanin concentrations. Future research could also branch out to other highly prevalent conditions with low vitamin D susceptibility such as cancers and dementia and Alzheimer's.
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